Gods of Mercy, NO! Say it isn't so!

This is the first day of the month of July, a month I shall now dub "Speed 2 Month". In this, once a week, I shall post a missive on the variables that make Speed 2 the crappiest film of ALL TIME. I'll save the first in-depth post until after the upcoming holiday, just to save a few brain cells from frying. I will though, roast a few more of my own watching this so-called movie one more time just to refamiliarize myself with its craptastic plot and amazingly inept acting. I may even repost an old writeup on 15 better things to do than watch than Speed 2.

Why do this, you ask? Why spend so much time and bandwidth on a terrible movie? I wish for it NEVER TO HAPPEN AGAIN. Sadly, many of Hollywood films haven't taken the hint yet and come dangerously close to being as bad (Indy 4, anyone?) but that doesn't give us the right to lose vigilance and annoy every person around us in reminding them how bad this movie... these movies... are. I'm also a bit of a bastard and like to piss off a particular friend of mine who once claimed he enjoyed this farce of celluloid magic. Mr. Amenta, you may stand and take a bow.

Okay, I'm more than a bit of a bastard, I'm a right ornery one. All in good fun, though.

To review: July, SPEED 2 month. Reviews, complaints, facts and trivia imminent. Sir Jon: Bit of a bastard. Blogging: Pretty much spewing shite out of the mouth. Enjoy it.

Sir Jon
7*1*2011

P.S. All for you, John.

The Connecticut Beer Trail

Three days in and already two of my topics regard a lovely, bottled craft that folk like me will never stray far from. What can I say, it's "Social Media Day" and I aim to draw a little attention towards a fine organization called the Connecticut Beer Trail.

Let's start simple. Many states, places, areas, counties and probably even municipalities have great focus on another fine beverage: wine. There are wine trails, literally trails of vineyards, wineries, fine wine sellers and makers in many of the aforementioned, most even stamped out on maps for the curiosity seeker or aficionado. A lot of these wine trails are funded by federal grants or state monies to assist in the possible added income from out-of-area vacationers. Basically, your tax bucks at work. Some places have gone a bit further in this idea, in that some people just Don't Like Wine. For these DLW'ers, they've created trails that are more to their liking, such as bourbon trails or candy trails or moonshine trails (well, maybe not moonshine). Then of course, is that elusive Beer Trail. Beer. The "working man's drink." I'm not sure if I subscribe to that particular description, I just know that Beer = Good.

So Connecticut has a wine trail. It shouldn't be a surprise, there are a rising amount of vineyards and wineries all across the U.S. Why then, as there is a great amount of small label beer companies, home brewers and beer lovers of all walks of life, should there not be a beer trail in the Nutmeg State? Bryon Turner thought so, going as far as to create a fantastic website for all of us beer lovers and makers, beer sellers and tappers. Over at the CT Beer Trail (http://ctbeertrail.net/) you can link in to great events, tales of woe, tales of success, brewmaking excellence, pubs with extremely good beers, fun chats and occasionally, notes regarding the State of Connecticut recognizing the CT Beer Trail as a potential draw to the state itself. Oh, revenue and the almight dollar, curse your inevitible focus on good beer! Success is a many armed beast! The beer drinking Connecticut masses will... drink with you and welcome you with open arms!

In all seriousness (with a smirk) the CT Beer Trail is a great organization with many fine points. It is good to know most of the representatives of the state agree and want to make the trail as actualized as the wine trails have become. I can heartily recommend to all fans of good beer to head on over, join up and become a trailblazer of a new type. You'll like it, have fun and probably discover a good new beer or five.

Consider this the first Public Service Message of A Leaf on the Wind. It won't be the last.

Beer

I'm out of beer. In Hovelhouse, that's not something that's usually said. It's not entirely true, either. In the fridge there are a few castoffs from gatherings past, such as that lone Heineken Light that inexplicably showed up here with a few others once. Next to it, resting it's laurels against an old jar of jelly, is a can of Keystone Light that I can attribute to at least one fellow reveler, He Who Drinks the Keystone by the Case. Why it's still in there is beyond me. Just a bottle away is an abandoned Red Stripe that has probably sat in there for the better part of two years. The last of a case, I'd chosen not to drink any more of that brand about half way through. It reminds me why and I hope it never leaves the fridge. Then there's that bizarre Christmas Ale that showed up from some recent dropoff. I recall it being popular 15-odd years ago. I wonder if it's actually that old or not. I don't aim to find out. There is a fine bottle of New Glarus Moon Man, a Wisconsin drink that I'm waiting for a specific time to quaff, as it is my last New Glarus of any type until March of 2012, provided the world doesn't crack in half. New Glarus if a great brewery and should be sampled by all traveling through Cheesehead country. Way back, behind the old ketchup that needs to be tossed is the fine pairing of Seagrams Blue Something-or-other, a girly drink purchased around six (yes, SIX) years ago for, well, the girls. I wonder if it feels just as unwanted as the Smirnoff Raspberry Ice it's been mated to for the better part of four years.

Yes, there is no beer of worth in Hovelhouse at the moment. There is plenty of Woodchuck Cider though, which I have already consumed in twos. I need to, you see. I need to make room for the beer to come. There is, after all, a holiday weekend on the horizon.

Skol!

Watch Me Soar

I caved. I have big plans, most of them not involving a (as I can barely speak the term) BLOG. Still, after much, much, much, MUCH deliberation, I have swallowed the remaining pride of my soul and decided to get my lonely self a BLOG. As was a previous endeavour, I call this "A Leaf on the Wind," in deference to a particular phrase from a particularly favorite film character. Some of you may get it, some of you may have read the posts of that previous endeavour. This may be similar, an experiment of the mind, a soapbox of the minutiae of life, a crass plug for a friend. Whatever it may be at any given point, feel free to speak your piece after each of mine. Expect an argument.

Welcome. Beware. It won't always be a pretty thing. Then again, neither is roadkill.

Jon Johnson (Sir)
10:31 PM EST